Tiger Newspaper Vol. XCVII, No. II

Page 1

Tiger spirit not dampened on Color Day

WASC is coming By Max White Staff Writer As a member of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), South Pasadena High School is required to conduct periodic self-evaluations in order to keep its class credits and diplomas from becoming invalid. This process, called accreditation, must be repeated this schoolyear as part of a six-year cycle that began when SPHS was last certified in 2005. The high school faculty, along with student and parent volunteers, has worked to provide an in-depth analysis of our school’s strengths and weaknesses. Teachers and staff-members have been placed into one of five “focus groups,” which study the organization, curriculum, instruction, assessment or culture and support of our school. The findings will be put into a report that explains how successfully the school has dealt with faults, as well as how it plans to remedy the problems it currently has. In spring, a WASC accreditation team will gauge our school’s improvement by reading this report and visiting classrooms and teachers. The faculty hopes to earn another six-year term between accreditations, but may be granted a three-year or limited term instead if WASC feels that the school didn’t sufficiently meet the goals that were set six years ago. “We know we have a great school here, so our WASC report will give us the ability to show it off and make it shine!” said WASC leadership committee member Maryann Nielsen. If everything goes according to plan, the WASC accreditation committee will share this Tiger pride when they pay SPHS a visit next spring.

By Clair Fuller Staff Writer

Edmond Mandin-Lee

Senior Clarke McRae rallies her classmates and teaches the faculty how to dougie.

TASP objects to large cash reserve By Brendan Perry Staff Writer

Jennifer Kim

Mr. Sean Regan makes a point during the Oct. 20 WASC focus group meeting.

Campus supervisor Mr. G called Color Day 2010 “richer on ideas”—and he wasn’t mistaken. An annual SPHS tradition for the past 72 years, Color Day has always been a showcase of Tiger spirit, creativity, and enthusiasm, and this year was no exception. Despite the rain, students packed into the gym for the assembly and joined in the “S… P…H…S!” cheer, led by Commissioner of Assemblies Zane McPhee and Commissioner of Spirit Angelina Palamino. Performances from Pep, band, and drumline were met with applause, as was the senior class victory in both the banner and class participation competition. Other highlights included senior Clarke McRae teaching members of the faculty how to dougie and the annual Rio Hondo League battle. Also announced were the homecoming princess nominees and the winners of the Best Dressed competition. The assembly itself was also a hit. “It was really loud and crazy, and everyone had really great costumes,” said sophomore Anastasia Velicescu. Despite this year’s overcast weather, everyone was able to enjoy the traditional Color Day energy, agreeing that this year’s festivities exceeded expectations. “I’m sad it’s my last Color Day, but this has been the best of all my years here,” agreed senior Morgan Daley. Freshmen appreciated their first taste of SPHS’s favorite ritual. “It was really fun,” said Alexis DeGuzman. “Yeah, except for the ‘Freshman Suck’ part,” said Janely Bonilla-Mendoza.

South Pasadena teachers paid for an advertisement in the South Pasadena Review on September 29th, informing the public that the district is allegedly tying up education dollars by maintaining a cash reserve six times the required level. The Teachers Association of South Pasadena claims that by doing this the district is withholding educational services from the students. TASP member Rae Luce said the purpose of the advertisement “was to let

the community know that the district has a lot of excess money that they are not using to help the students.” Luce says the district is being “unethical,” asking the community for more donations, telling them schools are in trouble and in dire need of money when in actuality the district is better off than a lot of districts. TASP understands why the district wants to have more than the minimum 3% in reserves, but feels 18% is excessive. “Some of that money should be used to reinstate school programs,” Luce said. SPUSD superintendent Mr. Joel Shapiro says that the district needs to

have the large reserve, projecting that it will have to cut the reserves to 12.1% in 2011-12, and 4.2% in 2012-13. Shapiro says that the reserves will continue to decrease because of “an ongoing structural deficit, which means our total annual expenditures exceed our total annual income.” Shapiro said in a public statement that the district plans to eliminate the structural deficit by “reducing compensation costs through furlough days, increasing class size from 34 to 36 in grades 6-12, which would result in some reducSee “TASP” on Page 2

Students file out for Great Shake Out By Christine Chen Copy Editor A low rumbling sound erupts through the school as students duck and cover before heading out to the football field to take a head count that ensures their safety. It is 10:21 AM on October 21, and 7.8 million people are practicing a statewide earthquake drill as part of the 2010 Great California Shake Out. These participants are not only students, but are also citizens from government facilities, businesses, and retirement communities who have joined the effort to practice safe procedures in case of emergency. The Great California Shake Out prepares residents of the Golden State for its worst nightmare. Earthquakes in California are common;

several earthquakes have already struck California this year, most notably the Baja California earthquake during Easter Sunday, which measured a significantly dangerous 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale. As a prominent earthquake state, California may as well be impacted with another earthquake in the near future, and it is best to be prepared for such a circumstance. As for the drill’s efficiency, Assistant Principal Mr. Terrance Dunn said, “I think the students and faculty in general behaved as effectively in the drill as they would have in an actual emergency.” Dunn says that he plans to hold another schoolwide drill in the spring, as well as continue participating in the Shake Out next year.

Sam Gurley

Junior Chelsea Reynolds and sophomore Angelique Ulmer play Twister during to pass the time during the “Great California Shake Out” yesterday.


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